Beneath the Surface
by Sarcasticles
Summary: Ino and Sakura get together to talk shop. AKA the conversation I wish had happened during the time skip. Character introspection, no bashing.


"You're distracted today, Forehead."

Sakura roused herself from her tea and offered a weak smile. Ino was unimpressed. Around them people walked up and down the streets of Konoha, unconcerned by their surroundings. The memory of last year's disastrous Chunin exam were starting to fade. The people had moved on. The question was, why couldn't she?

"I guess that's because I am distracted. Tsunade's lesson was fascinating."

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in that you're the Hokage's personal student," Ino said, sticking out her tongue. "But if you're going to be mopey, I might as well head over to the hospital. My shift starts in forty minutes."

"No," Sakura said hastily. "That's okay. We hardly see each other as it is. Tell me what's new."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Well, since you asked. They're giving me more hands-on experience. In a couple of months they might let me try some simple jutsus. The head of surgery says I've got superior chakra control."

"Mine's better," Sakura teased.

"Hmph. At least I'm allowed in the hospital. You're still stuck healing fish." Ino leaned in, eyes darting around to make sure no one was listening. "You know that cute new jonin, what's-his-face from ANBU?"

"Yeah?"

"He broke his pelvis on a mission a few days ago. Guess who got to give him a bed bath?"

Sakura laughed. "Very nice."

"You have no idea. I've never seen such chiseled abs." Ino leaned back with a contented smile and took a sip of tea. "What about you? Is the Hokage ever going to let you do some actual, you know, healing?"

"Soon. Tsunade says she has some things she wants me to learn first."

"Like what?" Ino asked. "You must have those scrolls memorized by now. You're not going to be able to get comfortable with the technique unless you're allowed to practice."

"It's not like that," Sakura said quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Right now I'm on a pretty intense training regimen since my taijutsu and ninjutsu are so far behind my chakra control. That takes up a lot of time, and what's left is used to read up on philosophy, ethics, and psychology."

"You're kidding me. Wait, no, don't answer that. Even your sense of humor isn't bad enough to joke about this. The Hokage's having you study philosophy?" Ino clucked sympathetically. "That's rough. You don't need any of that stuff to set a bone."

Sakura shook her head. "That's the thing, I'm not going to be stuck setting bones my whole career, am I? Someday I'm going to be back on the field, and hopefully someday promoted. This is going to help."

"But you could be learning _now_ instead of wasting your time reading about a bunch of dead guys and their crazy ideas."

"It's not going to take me very long to master healing," Sakura countered. Seeing Ino's condescending look, she shrugged. "It's true. The most important skills for an effective healer are chakra control and book knowledge. I've got plenty of both. What I need to learn is how to look beneath the surface."

"You've been spending too much time listening to Kakashi."

"Actually, I'm beginning to think I never listened enough." Sakura looked around. A woman passed their table, and Sakura pointed her out to Ino. "See her?"

"A random civilian with a hunchback. I fail to see the significance," Ino drawled.

"Not a hunchback, a buffalo hump. She's got a hormonal imbalance, and I'd bet ten to one it's because she's on a corticosteroid. Did you see how her gait was unbalanced? She's probably got arthritis."

Ino blinked in surprise. "That's neat, I guess, but I still don't get…"

"And the man sitting in the table behind us?" Sakura continued. "He's got vascular disease. You can tell by the brownish discoloration around his ankles."

"What are you doing looking at random people's ankles?"

"Not to mention, based on the ridges in his fingernails, the man who took our money has a vitamin deficiency."

"Okay, okay! I'll concede that your healer's training hasn't been totally useless so far! I still don't get why the Hokage won't let you practice on real people yet!" Ino shook her head. "Clearly you know your stuff. You could be getting practical experience by now, not…whatever it is you're doing."

"That's just it," Sakura said. "What's the point of having knowledge if I can't be trusted to use it properly?"

"Tsunade-sama doesn't trust you?" Ino asked, eyes widening.

"How can she when I've done nothing to prove myself?"

"But…that's ridiculous."

"Is it?" Sakura challenged. "Tsunade knows techniques that others would kill for. What if she spends years training me only for me to go rogue like Orochimaru? What if I'm on a mission and I'm asked to use my skills to torture someone for information? What happens when there are three people about to die and I only have the time to save one? What am I going to do when faced with the tough choices? That's what Tsunde's training me for, because if I know what I stand for and what I value, then those choices suddenly aren't that hard to make."

Ino opened her mouth to argue, then grimaced. "I still think it's stupid, but you might have point. Might. Besides, the longer you're stuck with bookwork, the longer I get hunky jonin all to myself. Not that you'd be much competition, with that forehead of yours."

"Pig," Sakura said good-naturedly. "You can have him all to yourself. I've sworn off guys for now."

"Still sweet on Sasuke then?"

"No." Seeing Ino's flat look of disbelief, Sakura sighed. "Maybe…it's complicated."

"Uh huh."

"I thought I understood him. I thought I understood him and Naruto both. And I was wrong. Very, horribly wrong."

"We all were," Ino, a look of uncharacteristic sympathy on her face.

"A ninja has to look underneath the underneath. That's just as true for medics treating wounds as it is understanding people." Sakura hung her head. "I…I misjudged him, Ino. I didn't see what was in front of my face."

"Are we talking about Sasuke or Naruto?" she asked.

Sakura thought for a moment. "Both. That's why I've got to rethink how I think. I don't want to make that mistake again."

"Hence the philosophy, ethics, and psychology. I understand you now," Ino said. "I guess that's important, but there's something you've forgotten."

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"You're a damn smart girl. Sure, you didn't see the real Sasuke, but who did? I refuse to let my rival beat herself up. That's my job."

Sakura laughed. "Thanks, Ino."

"There's no point in showing off my superiority if you're not at your best. It's bad form."

"How philosophic of you," Sakura said, still smiling.

"Hey, now. I don't hold to any of that mumbo-jumbo. I am a woman of action." Ino stood. "And speaking of action, I've got to get to the hospital." She took one last drink of tea before coming over and putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Don't get too bogged down in the 'what ifs'. It'll only keep you from seeing what's ahead."

"Thanks, Ino."

"What are best friends for?"

Ino left, and Sakura stayed for a few minutes and watched the crowds. There was a jaundiced man with the abdominal swelling that marked cirrhosis, a woman whose makeup couldn't quite hide the fact she had been recently been hit in the face, and a little girl who aped her ninja father's every move with eerie accuracy. Sakura saw things in a way she never had before. Instead judging how attractive the ninja patrolling the market was, she noticed what wonderful veins he had for IVs. She could assess the vegetable seller's health at a glance and recite what treatment that should be used for his chronic cough. The world was different now, clearer in a way that it never had been before.

Or maybe she had changed.

"I wish you could see me now," Sakura murmured. She still couldn't decide of the 'you' was Sasuke or Naruto. Probably both. From the beginning they had been so far ahead of her with defined goals and dreams. Even if their plans had changed, they at least, had known where they were going, leaving Sakura behind to play ninja.

Not anymore. Sakura wasn't going to allow herself to be swept along like a leaf in the wind. She had goals now, too, and was determined to see them to the end. Naruto would have said she was embracing her ninja way, but it was more complicated than that. She wanted to prove Sasuke wrong, she wanted to prove everyone who had thought her to be a useless girl wrong. She wasn't the afterthought, the nobody who needed protecting, the boring one who couldn't see the world for what it was. She was more than all that. She was…she was

She was Haruno Sakura. Nothing more, and nothing less. If anyone didn't like that, she would punch them in the face.

Sakura stood, ready to return to her books. The world had moved on. It was time for her to do the same.

* * *

AN: So I have been very frustrated with the Naruto in general for quite some time, and Sakura in particular since the chapter she was introduced. She's just so…aggravating and I really don't like her as a character at all.

That being said, I don't think bashing is appropriate or fair, so instead I wrote this. It's my way of venting. I think I've stayed true to the characterizations of Ino and Sakura, but I wasn't going to reread anything in the name or research. So if there's a mistake, feel free to point it out. I don't mind negative feedback.


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